Mortgage defaults Spike in Inland Empire

This article is interesting because some analysts following California's Inland Empire housing market were pointing to the declines in foreclosure activity for the last two months as a possible sign that the market was nearing a bottom.

From the Press Enterprise: Inland defaults change direction, rising after two months of declines

Mortgage defaults ... spiked in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in August after a two-month decline, smashing hopes that the flood of home foreclosures might be about to ebb.

In Riverside County, total foreclosure-related filings were up 58 percent from a year ago and 39 percent from July, while in San Bernardino County, total filings increased 98 percent from August 2007 and 34 percent from the month before.

There is more coming. And the Alt-A defaults are just starting to increase. From Bloomberg: Alt-A Mortgages Next Risk for Housing Market as Defaults Surge

Almost 16 percent of securitized Alt-A loans issued since January 2006 are at least 60 days late, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Defaults will accelerate next year and continue through 2011 as these loans hit their three- and five-year reset periods,
according to RealtyTrac Inc., an Irvine, California-based foreclosure data provider.
...
About 3 million U.S. borrowers have Alt-A mortgages totaling $1 trillion, compared with $855 billion of subprime loans outstanding, according to Inside Mortgage Finance ...